I was chatting with some colleagues lately about studio upgrades, premises, costs, and what is the newest Magic Bullet, Holy Grail bit of kit that will Fix Everything. There’s a gear geek in all of us, and if you’re not careful, ‘DOOM’ written on your forehead. In big letters.
All of us have preferences on the type of equipment we gravitate towards, based on the kind of records we enjoy making. There are basically two directions – to follow your own niche entirely, which means you’ll largely attract clients who favour the same ethos, or go for whatever the most popular formats and up to date gizmos happen to be, so you have the widest client base – but more competition. The space between those two places is the hole where the money falls through.
No matter how hardcore you may feel about being totally state of the art or completely old school, it’s necessary to accomodate both worlds to some extent, or you’ll paint yourself into a corner. Are you totally digital and never mic’d up a kit or used real outboard? Better start now, kid. Protools phobic? At least get an intern with Cool Edit…
Like it or not, this has always been a technology driven industry and we have to adapt to the changes or go to the wall. But before you buy anything new, remember – overheads are not just microphones!
